Things every New England kid
should get to do.
Kailah was born and raised in New Hampshire. This started as two Instagram posts asking how many our followers' families had done, and it's turned into the running list we're working through with our own girls. Growing up in New England is, in her words, wicked special. Here's what that actually means, in practice.
What a New England childhood
actually includes.
This is not a ranked top ten. It's the pattern that shows up across a real New England childhood, in roughly the order a kid works through it.
Pick-your-own, a cider donut, and a corn maze. Not optional in a New England childhood. Full timing and orchard notes on our fall page.
Not a resort. A dock, a rope swing, and the same lake most years. The part of a New England summer that doesn't photograph as well as the coast but matters more.
Paper plate, plastic fork, a view of a working harbor. Our Boothbay Harbor guide is where we send people who want the whole weekend built around this.
Something under two miles with a real view at the top. The White Mountains have a dozen of these. The goal is the kid remembering finishing it, not the elevation.
School closed, a sled, and cocoa after. Not a ski trip. The low-effort version that every New England kid gets a handful of times a winter, most years.
A parade, a bandstand, and fireworks over a body of water walking distance from home. Almost every New England town runs some version of this.
Working through the list
this year.
Most of this list overlaps with the trips we already send people to. If you're starting from nothing, the fastest way in is a weekend built around one or two items at once.
Walkable downtown, a working harbor, and the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens for a low-key trail.
North Conway, Vermont, Portsmouth, Ogunquit, Boothbay Harbor, Cape Cod, the Berkshires and the White Mountains, ranked by drive time.
People ask us this.
What are classic New England experiences for kids?
Apple picking, a lobster roll eaten at a picnic table, a first hike up a small mountain, a summer at a lake, and at least one real New England winter with real snow. None of it needs to be planned far in advance, which is most of why it works.
Is this list from a real New England childhood?
Yes. Kailah was born and raised in New Hampshire, and this list is built from what her own childhood actually included, checked against what our daughters are doing now growing up in Northern New England.
What are the best things to do in New England with kids, season by season?
Fall is apple picking, a cider donut and a county fair. Winter is a real snow day, plus Ice Castles in the White Mountains. Spring is a sugarhouse in maple season. Summer is a lake, a lobster roll at a picnic table, and a town Fourth of July. Our fall and spring guides and the winter events list go deeper on each.
There's a version of this list
for the rest of the world too.
We keep our own version for the places we've flown to as a family. When you're ready for the trip that needs a flight, we'll build the plan.